


That Certain Smell

by UberDuper



Category: Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: Gen, Introspection, about murder, its complicated
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-28
Updated: 2016-05-28
Packaged: 2018-07-10 19:45:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 656
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7003858
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UberDuper/pseuds/UberDuper
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Peri loves the smell of death!</p>
            </blockquote>





	That Certain Smell

The smell of death was always very distinctive to Peri. It was... earthy, almost. A heavy scent that hung in the air around a person, with layers and layers that sent a pleasant tingle down her spine.

The first layer was always blood. That was metallic and sharp, an iron-like tinge that rested on the tongue and brought a grin to Peri's face. Blood always made her smile. The next layer was... she didn't know how to name it, really. A rot, the smell that settled when skin began to die and disease began to set in. That was always there, from the victors that tossed bodies to the side or buried them. However they touched the bodies, the smell was connected to them.

The third... that was always the one that told Peri what kind of person the killer before her was. For most, the typical soldiers and peasants that had been forced into battle, the stench was like musky sweat. It was harsh and heavy to a trained nose (a nose like her's!), and always always always reeked of regret. Peri knew that that's why people like them died! Always with their hesitation and regret.

The other kind of smell was more of a scent. And that's because it was masked by the other layers, ever so much thicker than the average killer. It was like a cake, with thick, tasty layers of flavored frosting, only much better! It was light, an airy, fluffy scent that barely graced the nose with the smell of a workout's sweat and leather and wood and metal. Weapons of war that had become ingrained into the flesh of their wielder by smell, woody and leathery scents becoming locked into the skin of their soldiers through countless battles. Effie, Niles, Arthur, and Beruka smelled like that! Their devotion and seriousness driving them to fight fight fight, just like her! Peri giggled to herself. It was like poetry!

A distinctive smell caught Peri's nose, and the cavalier halted her motions. Her nose pointed towards the air like a dog, and she sniffed heavily. There it was. The smell of death. And yet... this was the one that had always puzzled her. Because along with the normal smells of blood and rot and weapons, there was a fourth smell that stood out to her. It was a smell that she had only detected on three people before in her life. The fourth smell was so strange to her trained nose. It was like all three of the other smells had mixed together to form some sort of... combo smell. Like dead, leathery flesh. Almost like something had been killed after it was dead. Which didn't make any sense to Peri. And there was something powdery, gritty about it that made it settle like a miasma in her nostrils. The smell also held something... dark to it, something similar to the way Corrin smelled. The only word Peri could come up to describe it would be 'dragon', but that would mean that the three came into contact with a dragon that wasn't Corrin, because Peri knew how Corrin smelled!

She stalked along the castle grounds, keeping a nose out for whoever it was that smelled like that. Who would it be that she encountered? The fiery redhead that was so competitive, always ready to outdo the cavalier? Perhaps the blonde mage with the funky way of talking, naming his weapons and special moves (so cool!)? Or would it be... a sigh reached her ears, Peri's eyes lit up, and she scampered forward, skidding to a stop just as the source of the smell sighed again.

“...Ugh. No luck today either...”

“Aww... shot down again, Laslow?” Peri giggled, approaching her fellow retainer and grinning at him. Today she was going to do it. She would offer to have tea with her buddy Laslow and figure out just _where_ he got that intriguing scent!

 

**Author's Note:**

> yeah, i don't know either.


End file.
